Don't I Know You?
by alphabeticalescape
Summary: Aang and Katara were childhood friends until life tore them apart. When it brings them back together they'll meet who the other has become. This is a kind of skip through Aang and Katara's childhood as they tell their friends old stories. Kataang.
1. I Can't Believe It's You!

A/N: I really love this idea that I just got. I'm not dipping my own quill but I think this going to be a pretty good fic.

I'm pretty much going to do a bunch of flashbacks from the main plotline of the story, Aang and Katara's reunion.

Aang – 15

Katara – 16

Sokka – 17

Toph – 15

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Chapter 1 – Don't I Know You?

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The new 'pretty girl' at school, Katara, sat in the lunchroom, the subject of everyone's attention but alone at the same time. There were a few girls at her table that had let her join them but they seemed intimidated by her, they talked amongst themselves but largely left her out of the conversation, only pausing to stare at her gleaming waist length brown hair as if they thought she would jump up and strangle them with it.

Even so, while all eyes were turned towards her, her own were turned towards nothing in particular, she seemed to have retreated to her own thoughts for company.

A ways down and to the left was a table full of guys and a girl, but you had to look twice to notice – it was Toph.

The one named Aang seemed as detached from the boyish antics at his table as the girl he was staring at across the cafeteria. _Didn't he know_ _her from somewhere?_

"Oh no, she looks lonely," Aang's friend Kuzon said, elbowing the fifteen-year-old in the side, "What kind of gentlemen would we be to not give her some company?" he asked grinning at Aang sideways.

Kuzon guessed Aang hadn't heard him since there was no sign of response and he was still staring at the girl across the cafeteria as if she'd gotten up on her table and started to do the can-can.

He pulled on the one side of Aang's beanie cap with the blue arrow design on it and snapped it against his head to get Aang's attention.

"Huh?" Aang said as if he'd just come out of a trance, "Yeah, you can have my onion rings."

Aang pushed his lunch tray towards Kuzon without taking his eyes off Katara.

"What? Aang that's not what I-" Kuzon fell silent as he noticed for the first time _the way _Aang was staring at Katara.

"He-hey," he said, this time it was Zuko's turn to get jabbed in the ribs, "I think our friend might not be such a monk after all, huh Zuko?"

Zuko grunted and slid farther down in his chair.

Kuzon rolled his eyes at the pitiful lack of mojo at his table and stood up, it didn't matter that Zuko's scar drove all the girls crazy, they drove _him_ crazy.

"While you guys prepare for priesthood I'm going to go do as Agni intended, Aang are you coming with me?" Kuzon asked.

Aang was already out of his chair and halfway to the pretty girl's table before Kuzon even stopped talking now that he had a friend to go with him.

Aang got to the table before Kuzon did, it was like if he could airbend or something . . . and had grinned sheepishly and given Katara a wave in greeting when 'Oof!' Kuzon shoved him out of the way.

Katara looked startled at being woken from her daydreams this way and looked from Aang, who was picking himself up off the floor to Kuzon who was now leaning much too close to her.

"Hey, I'm Kuzon, what would you like to know?"

Katara's face suddenly became very smug, "If you get all you pick-up lines from Days of Our Lives," she said evenly.

Kuzon was drained of all of his bravado as he turned a deep red. Somehow he'd thought she was pretty enough to be stupid . . .

He heard a loud guffaw behind him and turned to see Aang doubled over and pointing a finger at him.

"That was a good one," Aang said, ignoring Kuzon's glare, "Days of Our Lives . . ."

"Yeah, the stupid one is my friend –"

"Aang?"

Aang blinked. That was strange, he thought he'd heard his name come from the new girl's mouth and not Kuzon's, but that was impossible. _Unless he had_ _met her before. . ._

"Aang . . . Gyatso," she said. His last name too?

Then as he looked into her seventeen-year-old face it was if she'd taken a drink from the fountain of youth, she seemed to become younger and younger. Ten years old, seven, then five, until the memory of his childhood best friend was sitting in front of him.

She was looking into his grey eyes, pleading for some form of recognition. "You might not remember me but I'm-"

"Katara?"

It was like he'd answered correctly on a game show, and his prize was the object of every guy in the cafeteria's desire flinging her arms around his neck and pressing those full lips to his cheek with the smack heard round the world.

As Katara pulled away from him to beam into this face and her nose crinkled exactly the way it had when she was seven and he was five Aang felt as if he'd found something dear that he'd lost for a long time.

Aang was in the only one in the cafeteria who was smiling back at her, all the other guys were staring in disbelief at his good fortune, including Kuzon.

xxx

Five year old Aang sniffled and rubbed his eyes as he looked up at the big meanie in front of him.

The whole entire kindergarten class had made a circle around the toddler in the playground, and none of them dared to risk their lives to save him from Azula and her two bodyguards, Mai and Ty Lee.

Azula tauntingly waved Aang favorite stuffed animal inches from his face. He didn't make a grab for it because that was just what Azula wanted him to do, so everyone, except Aang, could laugh when she snatched it away again.

"Big boys don't play with dolls," Azula said as she smiled gleefully at his childhood trauma.

"Mr. Cuddles is not a doll!" Aang shouted for the millionth time in past few minutes, "He's my friend, give him back!"

"No," Azula said in her maddening 'What are you gonna do about it?' tone, "This is for girls, I should keep it, because I'm a girl and you're not."

"B-but he's mine," was all Aang could think to say, the teasing had gone beyond the point of 'comebacks'.

"Are you a girl?" Azula asked, bringing her face down close to his so that he backed away and almost wet his Batman underwear.

"No!" Aang was quick to shout, falling straight into the trap.

"Then you can't play with Mr. Cuddles anymore," Azula said like it was one-plus-one. Now she had a know-it-all tone like she was just trying to look out for him.

Aang was no match for this second grade logic. He just wanted Mr. Cuddles back, it was _his_ toy, and he didn't care what Azula thought, he was pretty sure he would get along doing the _opposite_ of what she thought.

At a loss he just let out a sob that would have broken anyone's heart except for the poophead who had his stuffed animal.

"Hey, give him back his toy!"

Aang looked behind him, expecting to see a teacher in all their glory of khaki pants and recess whistles.

Katara had been wearing khaki shorts that day, but instead of a whistle there was a large strawberry that said SWEET! underneath it in swirly pink letters.

Oh well, at least she was a head taller than him. Aang was thankful to be saved by anyone who would step up at the moment, and if that person happened to be wearing glitter and smell like fruit juice, well then more Wild Berry flavored power to her.

"Come and get it," Azula sang and waved Mr. Cuddles in front of her. Her smile soon vanished when Katara kicked off her 'I'm a Princess' flip-flops and had flattened her onto the playground grass the next second.

"Katara! What are you doing!"

Sokka had walked into the circle of five-year-olds to witness his sister with her little teeth clamped on another girl's wrist.

"That isn't how you play dinosaurs!" he shouted as she wrenched the other girl's wrist from his sister's mouth who quickly began crying and rubbing her bite mark like her skin was missing.

Katara didn't seem to take any notice of him though as she picked up a threadbare stuffed animal the other girl had dropped (who was now being attended to by two friends at either and side and giving Katara dirty looks).

She proudly handed it over to a kindergartener who was now looking at her with something akin to love and adoration as he wiped the snot from his nose on his sleeve.

Katara had to go a whole week without snack time gummi worms but Aang would always save some of his for her to eat on the way home to play with Mr. Cuddles every day.

And that was how Aang and Katara met.

A/N: I might just make this a oneshot, because this is a bit too much like Libowiekitty's story, Marriage. Although I really wanted them to meet in the future. Maybe just a few more chapters. I think I'm going to tell some stories from Aang and Katara's perspective. I just thought the idea of them meeting again after being separated was so cute! Too bad this is practically already taken.

Let's try the sweet and simple approach – Review!


	2. Bubblegum

A/N: Back by popular demand! I'm actually a little afraid not to continue this. I've never gotten so many reviews in one day. Thanks people!

But please, One More Dawn Is All We Ask is the work I'm truly serious about and it doesn't get nearly as much love and affection. It's more bookish and not as fluffy but it's gotten ten times the effort that this one will get.

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Chapter 2 - Bubblegum

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"So, you guys knew eachother when you were little?" Sukki asked Katara who had her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she concentrated on painting her toenails.

Katara smiled as the pleasant thought that she'd found her old friend came back to her, each time she got a funny little feeling in her stomach.

"Story time," Sukki laughed and put her chin in her hand as she rocked the porch swing they were both sitting on.

Katara screwed the nail polish cap back on and hugged her knees to her chest. Ever since Aang had introduced Katara to Sukki and she'd found out about their past she insisted it was the romance of all time waiting to be told.

Katara didn't mind, although it was hard seeing Aang as fifteen years old and even harder to look at him as a possible guy companion, (she still got the urge to put a tissue to his nose and tell him to blow) talking about him had become a favorite pastime.

"Well there was this once-"

"Hey, Katara!"

Aang had just come strolling down the sidewalk in front of Katara's house. His face was stretched into one of his huge smiles and he was holding a plate with something covered in aluminum foil. There was enough of a pause before he added, "What's up Sukki?" that it was almost an afterthought. Sukki accepted herself as a third wheel and edged over a bit so Aang could sit next to Katara on the porch swing which he undoubtedly would.

It was still so strange to Katara, the logo on his shirt said that he'd swapped Sesame Street for the Ramones and his shoes said Converse instead of Osh Kosh.

'Was he still the same person?' she wondered, and her stomach flopped with nervousness, to the five-year-old Aang she would always be the hero who rescued Mr. Cuddles in his time of need.

What about this Aang, was he too _cool_ for her now?

Just as she thought this, and that there was no time to bolt inside her house now because he had reached the top step, he tripped on it and she ended up catching him by the elbows.

As he caught her gaze and grinned while his cheeks tinged pink she found his ability to make her feel totally cool just the way she was hadn't changed at all.

"You came just in time Aang," Sukki said as Aang scrambled to right himself and laugh off the imaginary sign over his head blinking idiot #1. "Katara was just about to tell me a very embarrassing story that you wouldn't want anyone to hear," Sukki joked.

"That's not true Aang, I was just going to tell her about that time – in fact . . ."

Katara reached out and plucked off Aang's beanie cap, revealing his bald head, not a strand of hair to distract from his features.

That made it a good look for him, she thought, as she looked into his open and bare face, just like his personality. Hair would only take away from those huge, grey St. Bernard eyes and the softness of his face that together made him . . . attractive, she admitted.

"It never grew back?" she asked, "Now I'm really sorry about the bubblegum."

Aang laughed as he sat down next to Katara just as Sukki had predicted, "When I got bubblegum in my hair-"

"When _I_ got bubblegum in your hair," Katara interjected, looking embarrassed.

"Well anyway," Aang said, not too concerned about pointing fingers, "They just decided to shave it off and when I was seven having no hair to brush in the morning sounded pretty sweet," he said, laughing again.

"It suits you," Katara said, running her hand playfully over his smooth head.

"What in the world does that mean?" Sukki asked.

"It just does is all," Katara said, looking into Aang's eyes again, they were so innocent and kind, another part of him that had stayed the same since they'd been apart.

xxx

Katara's mother stood stock still in the kitchen where she had been baking a pizza, she hadn't heard a sound from her daughter or her six-year-old playmate for a while. Far from giving her peace of mind, for a mother that was cause to worry.

'If they're hanging off the underwear on the clothesline again,' she thought to herself, straining to hear any indication of their antics.

The funny thing was it usually wasn't Katara that got them into trouble, even though she was the older one and seemed like the obvious choice for a leader.

It was usually Aang that brought out her silly side and convinced her that replacing a tooth in Kana's dentures with a Chiclet would be fun.

Katara's mother bent and slid the pizza into the oven as a chorus of Spongebob Squarepants broke out in the living room with a voice over by the two children.

She couldn't help but catch some of their happy-go-lucky attitude as a stomping noise told her they were also performing a dance sequence to the opening of their favorite show.

Sokka looked up from the table where he'd been doing some pre-algebra problems before the weekend ended and he had to go back to Professor Roku's class. That teacher had temper like a volcano, and he hated being the kid who didn't do his homework in that class.

He was just about to tell them to quiet down, because being the _fourth grader_ that he was he needed to concentrate on his homework when the show started and they sat down on the blue sofa again.

Sokka turned back to his sheet of paper, 4 goes into 20 how many times? Good thing he'd cheated off of Azula for that last math test, or he would have flunked, but her, she never got anything wrong. Much to her brother Zuko's dismay, who was always dozing off in class and then being asked why he couldn't be more like her. If those teachers knew as soon as they turned back around she stuck her tongue out at him . . .

"Aang look, I blew a really big bubble!"

Sokka cast another glance at the sofa from his place at the dining room table to see his sister's face hidden by the gigantic pink bubble she'd blown.

"Whoa Katara, how'd you do that?" Aang asked excitedly.

Sokka turned back to his math problems, at least they weren't doing anything stupid he could get blamed for . . .

"Okay, I'll be the Dirty Bubble and you be Spongebob," Katara said.

POP

"Oh Aang, I'm sorry!"

"Sokka, what were they doing?"

Sokka sighed and put down his pencil as his mother came rushing out of the kitchen to inspect a rather shocked looking Aang's hair. Guess he would be that kid who didn't do his homework.

xxx

By the time Katara and Aang were finished telling the story Sukki was in tears from laughter which caused Sokka to open the front door onto the porch.

He had a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth and shaving cream on one side of his face and a suspicious look.

"You missed a spot right there," Aang laughed, indicating the right side of his face.

"Katara, what are you doing inviting strange men to the house, especially ones who make fun of my shaving?" Sokka asked.

"Strange men?" Katara repeated, "Aang is fifteen and he's definitely not a stranger, you should remember him."

Sokka inspected Aang's face, his narrowed eyes showed he was waiting for something to ring a bell.

"Oh, right," he said, his posture becoming more lax, "You're that kid that used to follow Katara around, all the happy memories . . ." he grumbled the last part.

"So, when did you-" Sokka stopped mid sentence and plucked the toothbrush out of his mouth, he had just noticed Sukki.

"Katara, I told you to warn me! I look like I got attacked by a toiletry aisle!" he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared back into the house.

Sukki giggled as they looked after Sokka for a few moments before Aang spoke.

"You wanna come over to my house tonight?" Aang asked, "You know Gyatso is excited about someone moving into town when he bakes soy brownies," Aang said as he removed the aluminum foil from the plate he'd been holding.

There were about ten brown lumps arranged in a kind of pile on the plate that looked as though they could either be ooey-gooey or very icky.

"No one's ever done that for us," Katara said as she took the plate. Aang could tell she was trying to sound grateful but she didn't know what to make of the small brown concoctions. "How did he make brownies out of-"

"I don't know either," Aang said, looking at the brownies like he didn't seem too sure of them himself.

"He's better at making fruit pies," Aang said, "At the commune we usually eat those for desert.

"You live at a commune?" Katara asked; their lives had gone in different directions.

"Yeah, ever since . . ."

Katara's eyebrows rose in understanding, "Oh, so that's what . . . I see."

Sukki didn't seem to know what to make of the sudden seriousness that had come over her two friends, but she kept quiet as she looked from one to the other.

Aang gave Katara a small smile to break the solemnity and reached into his pocket.

"He told me to be sure you got this too," he said as he pulled a chain from his pocket, at the end of it was the largest sapphire Sukki had ever seen.

Katara's hand shook as she reached out to take the necklace, something told Aang that the longing in her eyes was not there because the sapphire must have been thousands of dollars.

"This is my mother's necklace," she said softly, like all breath had left her body.

"It is?" Aang asked, obviously as shocked as she was, "Why did Gyatso have it?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Katara said as she looked down at the chain and gem in her hand like it was her own mother's face, a mother who had passed away, taking her childhood with her.

A/N: I have Libowiekitty's go ahead so I'll be continuing this fic. I'm now officially in love with it myself so this won't be over for a while.

Thanks Libowiekitty!

Thank you also to all those people who reviewed and added my story to their favorites and alert list. I have a feeling there are going to be too many for me to mention all of them in my chapters but you know who you are and I am sincerely grateful and honored.

The curtain had fallen, have a nice night, thanks for coming.


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